Can You Dig It?

Rockstar Games just released The Warriors, based on the 1979 movie. Which is interesting, since the movie isn't exactly new -- it was made at approximately the time most of our Barrelhouse Editorial Squadron was made.

It's the story of a gang -- duh, The Warriors -- wrongly accused of killing a bigtime gang leader named Cyrus, who was trying to get all the gangs together in a kind of gang co-op.

It's where that Can you dig it? Can you dig it? Caaaaaan youuuuuuu DIG IIIIIIIIT!?!? thing comes from. If you know that thing.

The movie is pretty campy if you watch it today -- the gangs all have a theme. And not a theme like Dealing Coke or Killing Other Gangs or even Stabbing People in Target (which seems to be the theme in my neighborhood). I'm talking themes like The Gang That Dresses Like Mimes in Baseball Uniforms, The Gang That Roller Skates Everywhere All the Time, The Gang That Wears Overalls, The Gang That Wears Satiny Pinkie Tuscadero Jackets, The Gang That Dresses Like Mimes with Top Hats. That's right -- there are two mime-related gang themes.

This site has a listing of all the gangs. If that doesn't make you want to see the movie, I don't know what will.

I saw The Warriors maybe a hundred times when I was growing up, I think because it was one of the first movies out in video -- well, one of the first to include at least a little sex and lots of violence (the other being Death Race 2000, which is a great movie, and probably a good subject for another post someday) -- and my friend's parents happened to own the only video store in town. Actually, it was a carpet store with a shitload of videos for rent. Which I'm just realizing now was really odd. It was a small town. It was the nascent video era.

So I'm wondering how this campy, violent movie that was made in 1979 becomes a videogame in 2005. I can't wait to play the game, but I'm pretty sure it's not aimed squarely at me (note to Rockstar Games: if you are making games specifically for me, let's tackle Slap Shot, Dazed and Confused, and Death Race 2000 next).

Another interesting thing about The Warriors is its audience seems to be strictly male. Most women in my very unscientific, unofficial poll had never even heard of it. And most men will shout "Warriors, come out and play-yay" as soon as you start clicking two bottles together.

Have you seen the Warriors? If so, are you a woman?

Is The Warriors cult classic enough engage the game-buying public in 2005. Or is Rockstar just making games based on whether I'll buy them or not? So many questions. Can you dig it?